Daytona 500 – Fantasy NASCAR Front Runner Rankings

Joey Logano – Joey Logano is the top ranked Front Runner Rankings driver for the Daytona 500. What I like about him is his dark horse sleeper potential. He’s an underrated restrictor plate driver and his Daytona average finish is 20.9. Poor average finishes like that will likely keep many people away from picking him. Last year Logano didn’t have his best season at Daytona. In the 500 he finished 19th but he performed better than that. He earned the 9th best driver rating and ran many laps inside the top 10. With ten laps to go he was running in 11th. In July before he had a flat tire and had hard contact with the wall he spent the majority of his race running inside the top ten. In the three Daytona races prior to 2013 Logano had a 5.3 average finish (second best), scored the second most points and had the third best driver rating. (Yahoo B Driver)

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Kurt Busch – I’ve said this many times before but Kurt Busch is the best restrictor plate driver who’s never won a points paying race. In his career he’s come close to winning at both venues on this track type. He has a Sprint Unlimited win but those don’t pay any points. It should be noted that in that particular event he didn’t cross the finish line first, Denny Hamlin did. In his thirteen Daytona 500 starts he’s finished runner-up three times. In the 2014 Daytona 500 Kurt Busch will be making his first career start for Stewart-Haas Racing. I expect him to have a very quick and strong car. In 2013 on this track type Stewart-Haas Racing entries were fast and all the drivers enjoyed an amount of success. In last season’s Daytona 500 Kurt Busch sustained some damage in the first “Big One”. The damage wasn’t fatal but it caused him to finish 5 laps down in 28th. Prior to the wreck he ran between 8th and 13th. In July Busch fared much better. He finished 6th and earned the third best driver rating. That marked his first top ten at Daytona since the 2011 Great American Race. In 26 races at Daytona he has ten top fives and thirteen top tens. (Yahoo A Driver)

Make sure you read: Daytona Top Tier Elite Picks, Daytona Mid Pack Predictions, Daytona Scouting Report (2013 Daytona 500), Daytona Scouting Report (2013 July), PROS Rankings – 2013 Daytona 500, PROS Rankings – 2013 July, All of our driver previews

Austin Dillon – The 2014 Daytona 500 pole winner will be driving the #3 RCR entry. Don’t overlook the intangible that number will bring to the table, particularly at Daytona. Last season on this track type Austin Dillon raced twice. In the Daytona 500 he finished 31st (wrecked) and at Talladega in the fall it looked like he would finish in the top five but on the last lap of the race he wrecked. Last year his car was good at the start of the Daytona 500 but he fell behind early. In his Daytona Duel race in 2013 he finished 3rd. RCR cars have been very strong at Daytona. In the 29 car last season which is now the #3 Harvick won the Sprint Unlimited, his Duel 150 and finished 3rd in July. Last season on plate tracks in the Nationwide Series Dillon had results of 21st, 10th and 5th. (Yahoo C Driver)

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